Fixed Dogs

Yet again I find that my story revolves around my dog and his crazy antics and ways. Luckily, this time I am able to report that he did not eat anything. That does not however mean that he did not possibly destroy something.

While I was singing at church a week or so ago Brandon was home alone with the dog. It is common in our house to let the dog on the couch or up into our lap in our Lazyboy chair, so I was not surprised to learn that the dog had been in the chair with Brandon for most of the night. Brandon did mention, when I got home, that the dog had gas and smelled; he even mentioned that he had made the chair smell. We febreezed the chair and opted to not give the dog any people food for the next couple days. Later that week Brandon, while in the chair, complained again that the dog had gas and was stinking up the house. We laughed and thought nothing of it; thinking Tiko was just a gassy dog.

Last night was the first time I had really sat in the chair since Tiko "farting" on it. It's Brandon's chair and I usually prefer the couch. As I lounged I also noticed a fowl smell and noted that the dog was not even in the room. I sniffed around and noticed a white spot on the arm of the chair, when I got a big whiff I gagged. We're still not completely sure what happened; however, my theory is that Brandon got the dog a little too excited while cuddling in the chair and Tiko leaked a little of that excitement onto Brandon, the blanket (which was washed the night of) and the chair.

I was totally unaware of the fact that a fixed dog could do that but the smell caused me to believe otherwise. Febreeze did nothing but add a hint of flowers to it and the Resolve Pet Orders only removed the flower smell from the Febreeze. The smell was so bad we talked about possibly having to get rid of the chair; my theory is that since Brandon was unaware of what happened and it didn't get it cleaned up it had sunk into the padding of the arm of the chair; the stain was deep and so was the smell.

When I called my mom for advice she laughed hysterically at the idea that my fixed dog had come on my chair and the smell was toxic enough for us to want to get rid of it. When she learned that the resolve didn't work she recommended bleach or ammonia; we were desperate to not have to get rid of it (it's Brandon's favorite chair!). I scrubbed and scrubbed and scrubbed the spot with Febreeze and Resolve and made plans to find some ammonia at the store the next day.

Then I had an epiphany: Lavender Spray! Lavender neutralizes most harsh, and in our case toxic, smells! I doused the arm of the chair with the lavender relaxation body spray I keep on my nightstand and left it dry. Brandon thinks the lavender may have worked but I have yet to do a smell test; I'm hoping for the best!

Lesson learned: Fixed dogs CAN still generate sperm or a come like mixture that reaks of something NASTY; be sure to clean up right away and possibly follow up with a little bit of lavender or ammonia.

Birthday Fun

Friday was the hubby's 27th b-day so of course I had an evening of fun planned. I made "reservations" at The Great Stony River Legendary Steakhouse and wrapped his present in 6 different boxes.

Since I got home earlier than planned I scooted his big present over to him wanting him to believe it was heavy and breakable. Although he didn't believe it was heavy he was surprised to find another wrapped box inside. After unwrapping 4 boxes he began to glare at me, hehehe, after 6 he threatened to throw me out the window if there was another box. I got him the first 2 seasons of The Big Bang Theory and even those were wrapped separately. After 6 boxes and tons of wrapping paper later he was pleased to see that we could spend the next couple days watching our new favorite show! We had to promise one another that we would not watch any episodes in the other's absence.

With the evening starting out on such a good note we headed to the Stony River with high spirits. Since the restaurant is in The Summit it took us almost 10 minutes to find a place to park, but even then we were 5 minutes early for our "reservation". I say "reservation" because it's not really a reservation; it's what they call priority seating. You put your name on the list for a certain time, if a table is ready at that time then you are seated right away but if there is not a table you are told that you will wait no more than 30 minutes before being seated. The place was packed when we arrived but due to our priority seating we were told it would be no more than 30 minutes; however, a HOUR AND 15 MINUTES LATER we were finally lead to a table.

At one point we think we over heard the hostess tell someone there was over a 2 hour wait and where did all those people wait, in and around the hostess stand and bar of course. It was hard to walk around and getting to our table was like walking through a maze so the hostess had to lead us all the way around the parameter to get to a table that was right next to the hostess stand. Our table, although not next to the bar, was fairly close to it and the noise level was insane. Even though Brandon was sitting right in front of me I could not hear a word he was saying. We spent the whole meal leaning across the table and yelling at one another.

We couldn't help but chuckle when they brought us the bread; the dinner rolls were the size of donut holes and kinda of tasted like them. We only got 4 rolls and the waitress seemed shocked when we asked for more; after a hour and 15 minute wait we were hungry and the bite of bread we received had not pacified us in the least. The food was good but not something I would write home about or rave to my friends about; Brandon got the prime rib and I chose one of their signature filet's. We enjoyed the food but I doubt it will be a restaurant we go to again. One of the main reasons we chose that restaurant was because we had a $20 off coupon; it's a 5 star restaurant so the prices are high and $20 off really helped. We opted out of dessert, nothing looked good, and decided to eat the cake and ice cream we had at home.

We joked on the way home that it was, yet again, my fault that things didn't turn out quite as planned (Kennedy Curse). Brandon teased that my expectations were too high; however, I think having an expectation of being seated with in the 30 minutes I was told was reasonable. Plus, I have medical issues that require that 30 minute time limit to be met. Oh well, it makes for a good story and I told Brandon that we just needed to realize that we are not high class, do not have high class taste, and need to just stick with Japanese because it would taste just as good and be much cheaper! We finished off the evening with a Big Bang Theory marathon.

The evening was full of laughter and Brandon had a good birthday, from what I've heard. :)

Winter Weather

Oh the weather outside has been frightful and I wish I had a fireplace that was delightful; and I have to go to work today. Let it snow, let is snow, let is snow.

Since the new year the temperature has reached record lows. It has gotten down into the single digits with wind chills below zero and the small amount of snow on the ground has caused panic among the people in my city. Milk and bread are hard to find in almost any store, there is not a single snow shovel for sale, and bags of salt are impossible to find. The worst of it all, Brandon threw the dog's ball on the roof and got it stuck in the snow. Brandon threw the dog's ball on the roof?! Sounds crazy, right?

For over a year Brandon has been wanting Tiko to learn how to catch. It doesn't matter if you throw food, a toy, or a treat Tiko will NOT catch it. He doesn't even try to catch it; instead he just stands there and allows it to smack him in the face until it hits the ground so he can pick it up. Call Brandon crazy, call him determined, call him whatever you like but he refuses to give up on teaching Tiko how to catch.

In his determination last summer Brandon came up with a great idea, throw the ball onto the roof and let it roll off. In the process encourage Tiko to catch it off the roof and bring it back, teaching him to catch! Granted the ball rolling off the roof is the ONLY thing he'll catch but I think this little bit of progress has greatly encouraged Brandon in his goal and Tiko LOVES doing it. Tiko will anxiously await for the ball to hit the gutter and fly into the air so he can jump up and catch it in his mouth. Although he is only successful in actually catching it about half the time he still struts around the yard showing off what he's done each time, even if he picked it up off the ground.

While I was out of the house the other day Brandon took Tiko out to play in the snow. When Tiko began to tire Brandon picked up the ball and threw it on the roof. Tiko perked up and waited for his cue not missing a beat as to what he was suppose to do. Tiko caught the ball and brought it back to Brandon; not thinking that the roof was covered in snow Brandon threw the ball a second time and Tiko got in place to catch it. Due to the snow the ball got stuck and never rolled down the roof. At first Tiko stood still listening for the ball but when he didn't hear where it was "rolling" he started running around the house trying to find where it had fallen and obviously thinking he had missed something. Brandon said it was hysterical watching Tiko running around confusion clearly written on the poor dog's face.

I guess Tiko will have to wait for the snow to melt before he'll be able to catch his ball...